Romance Dawn I: Bearer of the Silver Flames
by bassiconcerti14
Summary: Falco D. Mihawk has been quietly hiding from the Marines for the past fourteen years, training with her swords and recovering from a strange case of amnesia when she unexpectedly meets Portgas D. Ace and the Whitebeard Pirates. Join Falco and her unpredictable fate on the Grand Line as she journeys with a brand new crew, and struggles against choosing love over life. T4S, AcexOC.
1. Author's Notes

_The voices. They haunt her. Day and night she hears things, sees things, that have no origin and no end. She does not know why they are in her head. She's not sure if she wants to know. But one thing is certain. It is her duty to kill him. To kill Mihawk, and put an end to all of her horrors. She is a monster—she knows. She is nothing but a tool, a weapon, and one day she will go out of control._

_But something always stops her._

_Tattoo. Freckles. Orange. Fire._

_His voice always whispers in her mind, and it soothes her. It is as if he chases those nightmares away, and these—these are the memories she knows she wants to preserve._

_She knows that deep inside, her future will be nothing more but darkness, and it'll pull her in deeper and deeper._

_But she knows. He can save her._

_A life for life._

_A soul for soul._

_A mutual exchange._

_A delicate process. Something that starts off radiating and pure, but is tainted just as easily._

_We call this: love._

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><p><em>Please tell me<em>

_That this is nothing but a nightmare_

_Nothing but a dream_

_And that when I wake up_

_I won't remember anything_

_But parts of me are trying to convince_

_Saying that I like it better here_

_Because he'll protect me, he'll help me._

_What is this feeling in my stomach_

_That feels like it is a butterflies resting place?_

_Do I trust him? Do I… love him?_

_The heavens and the stars tell me nothing but grief_

_Or are they telling us to say what we really want to, what our hearts desire before it's too late?_

**~Falco~**

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><p><em>"To this day, I've never truly felt pressure about becoming successful. I always try to stay focused on making manga for just a single audience, because in most circumstances, you read manga by yourself. So whenever I draw manga, I have only one reader in my mind—myself as a 15-year-old. I have no idea how other people would feel, so I turn back to the 15-year-old me to make a judgement on what is awesome or not. <em>**_I always try to stay true to myself, _**_and somehow it resonates with the kids who read my manga."_

**~Eiichiro Oda, creator of _One Piece_**

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><p><strong>**Summary:<strong>

**Nineteen-year-old Falco D. Mihawk has been hiding from the Marines for thirteen years on a small little island- until the Whitebeard Pirates unexpectedly show up and ruin it all.**

**Falco's life is shrouded with mysteries— even to her! But as she and the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates slowly start finding out about the unspoken mysteries of the crew's life, there are people who cannot sit and watch any longer.**

**Starting from the time before Thatch's death all the way to the excruciating ends and terrors of the Grand Line and the New World, join Falco, Ace, Luffy, Kidd, Law, Paulie, Jonathan, Mihawk, and the rest of the pirates and Marines alike through the legendary adventures of the Great Pirate Era.**

**This story is in a trilogy, based on my theories of the Grand Line and my own adventures in One Piece.**

**Book 1: Romance Dawn— The Falcon in the Sky**

**Book 2: One Piece— The Great Pirate Era**

**Book 3: New World— The Last Stand**

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><p><strong>**About the Story:<strong>

**My first introduction to FanFiction was in 2009, where I decided to publish a Spirited Away story. It's been five years already since my initial debut, and whereas I'm proud of myself for developing as a writer and a dreamer, it also makes me a little sad that I still don't have enough courage to post a story and stick to it.**

**Part of it is because my writing improves day by day, so even after a week of posting something, I get frustrated by my 'old' writing and decide to take it down. This is why no piece of mine since 2009 have been able to stay up, and I have no promises on this one either.**

**As to why I've decided to publish _Romance Dawn _first is just one simple reason: I grew with it. I've done _tons _and _tons _of projects, from real books, to poetry, to FanFiction—but something about Romance Dawn makes me want to keep on coming back for more, even when I know I'm no longer interested in the original series. This FanFiction is no different from anything else I'll be posting, but it holds a special place within my heart.**

**Oda-sensei is a genius, no doubt, but sometimes he gives you enough strings and clues to piece them together. Everyone ties them in a different way—my story is the same idea. This FanFiction is nothing but what I think _could've _or _will _happen, when a girl named Falco is thrown into the world. Has anyone found it strange that Thatch's division was the Fourth Division, when four generally symbolizes death? What do you think One Piece is? Why do all the other characters only have families that aren't blood-related to them? Excluding Usopp and Luffy's connection to Dragon and Garp.**

**It's my personality to try and figure things out, to match them all perfectly to create one whole picture. But as time goes on, sometimes I think Oda has created the Grand Line to be so mysterious and dark for a reason, and sometimes those missing pieces are truly the things that make this story astonishing, and in an ironic way, more complete and different from any other manga.**

**My only real warning when reading this story is this: you won't know anything for sure until you read the final chapter of this trilogy. So have fun, and I'll think of writing this as an adventure of my own.**

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><p><strong>**Upcoming Projects:<strong>

**One Piece**

**Naruto**

**_For more projects or summaries, please check out my profile!_**

**~Luciana Aki**


	2. The Whitebeard Pirates and the Falcon

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned One Piece!**

"Talking"

_Thinking_

**(A/N)**

**~Luciana Aki (Ina)**

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><p><em>"I know hardly anything about the story when I begin… usually I begin with just the image of a person and a place. And then I write to discover what the story is. To me, that's so exciting: rushing to find out what the story is and what will happen and who I'll meet along the way."<em>

_~Sharon Creech_

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><p>The girl panted heavily as she ran as fast as she could through the crowded forest.<p>

Fourteen years. Why now?

"Hold it!"

"Get her!"

She took another deep breath as she leaped over a bolder and then painfully raised a hand to stop the bleeding from her shoulders. She hated bullets. They were one of the only things that was capable of taking a bird down from the sky. But the one engraved in her shoulder was a type she hated even more. Kairoseki bullets.

Her best chance at fighting was to grab her swords from her house. The Kairoseki was preventing her from flying away, and she didn't carry any weapons around while she was hiking. Nothing had attempted to harm her for the many years she had lived in this little island.

Which was proven to be wrong today.

As the forest cleared, she could see the vast blue ocean, and the equally vast village ahead of her, stretched across the sandy shore. Running down the hill as fast as she could, she dashed for the cobblestone path that led her to the heart of the village.

"Stop running immediately!" The Marines cried.

She quickly looked over her shoulders. There were five of them. How did they know who she was? Her identity was kept as a secret for fourteen years. Did someone find out who she was? Was Mihawk here?

She grabbed the keys to her house from her pocket and desperately tried to unlock her door once she had arrived-a small, two-floored house that had a copper-coloured roof, with wooden interiors.

"Come on... open up..." she muttered, beads of nervous sweat trickling down her cheek.

"There she is!"

_Click._

She slammed the door open and grabbed the first sword she saw. Just as she was about to unsheathe it, however, she felt the cool, metallic edge of a blade placed beside her neck. She froze and panted hard, wisps of smoke barley visible in her dark home.

"One more move..." The Marine panted. "And I'll kill you."

"Ensign! Ensign Masamoto, where are you?" The two could hear the cries of the remaining four Marines.

"I'm here, you dumb-"

The girl took the chance to kick the ensign in the stomach and unsheathed her sword. After waiting for him to get up, she took the first chance to attack, lunging forwards, swinging the sword gracefully in front of her. The Marine gritted his teeth as he blocked her attack.

Suddenly, she leaped back to her rack of swords, and unsheathed another one. Waisting no time, the Marine swung downwards at her, which she easily blocked by catching his sword between her two own katana's.

_Too easy..._ She grinned, hiding the pain once again growing in her shoulder. Once she had immobilized him, she sent a powerful kick to his stomach, knocking him out unconscious.

Once she made sure he was out cold, she began to pack immediately. It seemed unlikely that only five Marines would be on an island, so she had to get out as soon as possible before the rest found her.

Even if she could leave her clothes behind, there was no ways she'd abandon her swords. Packing them all up in a grey sack and putting on a brown cloak for herself while she was at it, the girl cautiously looked outside, before running towards the docks.

She looked behind her, making sure she wasn't being followed. Suddenly, she felt herself crash into something soft, dropping her bag of swords as she fell.

"Ow," she groaned, rubbing her head. "Watch where you're—"

But when she looked up, her expression transformed into one of terror, as she made eye contact with a man in which she was sure he was a Marine. Tall, sturdy build, with orange hair and bushy brown eyebrows. He wore the emblem of the Marines proudly on his chest, not to mention the 'Justice' cloak he had on his back.

"Vi... Vivi..." he started, reaching a hand out for her.

She immediately backed away and stood up, grabbing her bag of swords. Once she had started to run, however, the Marine gave a long, loud whistle, and at an instant dozens of Marines popped out from behind houses, surrounding her. The bullet from the Kairoseki earlier was still engraved in her shoulder, and she could now feel its full effects. Her vision was starting to blur, and her hands were getting sweaty. The air felt clammier than usual.

_I... I can't faint now... then all these years would've gone to waste._

Just when her knees were about to buckle, however, she felt a warm hand touch her back.

A tall man stood behind her, smiling. His eyes were shadowed by his bright orange cowboy hat, but she could see his shaggy black hair and freckles that splashed across his face.

"Yo, little lady," he whispered. "Do you need a hand?"

She wanted to say no. She wanted to say she could handle it herself. She hadn't felt or contacted another human for a very long time so his touch felt very awkward and new, yet reliable and safe at the same time. As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't do anything in her sorry state right now. She gave him a weak nod, feeling her consciousness slowly slipping away.

"It's Portgas D. Ace!" Someone yelled.

_As in... the Whitebeard Pirates?_

"What's he doing here on a tiny island like this?"

_Why would a pirate help me?_

"Seize them both!"

The man, whom she now recognized as the infamous Second Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, launched a powerful ball of fire in front of him, safely separating the two from the Marines. He swept her off her feet in bridal style, picked up the bag of swords and ran towards a small, yellow raft.

Landing perfectly on it, his two feet suddenly blazed with hot fire, as the small boat sped away from the island, shocking everyone who had been watching. The small vessel sped away on the ocean blue, as wind prickled her cheeks like ice.

Before the girl could finally close her eyes and rest in piece, however, she felt Ace leap up, and the raft going underwater. After a few seconds worrying that they'd fall into the ocean and drown, she heard Ace's boots land on something soft.

She wearily opened her eyes to observe her surroundings. They were on a small island, uninhabited by anything except sand, rocks, and a few palm trees. From a far distance, she could only see Root Island and the vast sea.

Ace gently put her on the ground. He grabbed a bandage from his watermelon-shaped bag, and ripped the sleeve of her shirt off, exposing her shoulder. Wrapping her wound so it wouldn't get infected, he furrowed his eyebrows in concentration and worry.

"Am… am I going to die?" Falco whispered. Her head was now pounding, and she could barely make out Ace's figure. Her body seemed to immobilize as well—strange, considering that this was an ordinary kairouseki bullet.

She heard the man sigh. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "But I promised to meet up with my crew here tomorrow. We have excellent doctors and nurses there though, so I'm sure they'll fix you up once you meet them. So hang on, okay?"

She slowly nodded, closing her eyes. She didn't feel tired or sleepy, but even staying awake seemed to take a huge toll on her body.

She could feel the hot sun burning down on her, and hear the soft whispers of the waves. Her heart thumped nervously in anxiety and worry. How long had it been since a human came in contact with her? She'd almost lost track of time.

"Hey," Ace suddenly said. The girl jolted out of her thoughts and opened her eyes in annoyance.

"What?"

He picked her up without saying anything else and walked towards what looked like a green patch of bedding. He put her gently down on it, and gave her a big smile.

"You'll be fine, alright?"

She felt her consciousness slipping in and out again, but barely managed to whisper: "What about the Marines…?"

"If you're with me," he whispered. "Nothing will be able to hurt you for the time being."

He stood up and added: "Unless they want to face Oyaji's wrath! Ha ha!"

_Oyaji? Whitebeard?_

_What's happening? My head hurts so much…_

_That name sounds so familiar…_

When Ace returned with more bedding, he smiled softly at the girl sleeping before him. Her hazel hair spread out messily all around her small, pale face and her blue dress shirt that was tucked into her khaki-green shorts were tattered and dirty.

Golden eyes. He had seen them somewhere before.

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><p><strong>Book 1 Romance Dawn: Bearer of the Silver Flames<br>Saga 1: The Grand Line  
>Arc 1: Enter, Falco!<br>Chapter 1: The Whitebeard Pirates and the Falcon**

**I-I-I-I**

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><p>By the time the girl woke up, the sky had turned into a deep shade of indigo. Light from the stars reflected on the shores of the island. She sat up and turned to look towards her left, where she could see Ace in front of a campfire, eating something. Although her legs felt weak, she slowly dragged herself over to the Commander.<p>

"Hmm?" He went, mouth full of what she could now see was a piece of meat. "You're awake how, huh? How are you feeling?"

She gritted her teeth and looked away to prevent the falling of her tears that had suddenly appeared in her eyes. Her body felt like it had been dragged across the Grand Line and her complexion made her look sickly, not to mention the caked blood all over her shoulders.

Ace's eyes widened in worry. "Hey, don't cry. Want a piece? You slept through all of yesterday," He said, offering her some of his meal. She shook her head and angrily wiped her tears away.

Physical pain was all part of the process in becoming stronger for her, and she didn't mind looking gross either. In fact, pain didn't have anything to do with why she was crying… it was because she was _scared_. Scared because the Marines had found her. Scared because she had lost her only home for the past fourteen years in less than an hour. Scared… because she didn't know how to act around other people anymore.

Ace looked up at her innocently and gave her a big grin. His hand reached for hers, and he pulled her down in front of the campfire.

"What's your story?" He suddenly asked her, throwing the remainder of his meal into the fire. The girl raised an eyebrow in questioning.

"Your story," he urged. "You don't seem like a pirate, so I don't get why you'd be running away from the Marines. But you wouldn't be an ordinary villager either because no villager has as many swords as you," he explained, looking at her sack of katanas that were abandoned beside him.

"Ano ne," She went, annoyed. "Are you always this nosy?"

He chuckled. "I guess so. Oyaji once told me: everyone has a story of their own, and the sea is where you go tell those stories. Also, your attention won't be focused on your wound, so you might feel better."

Her eyes widened. It was true—just for that brief moment, she had forgotten all about her worries. Just talking to him made her feel so… comfortable.

_Is everyone like this? _She asked herself, tightly hugging her knees. _Is everyone so open and welcoming as this man? Will I be safe after telling him?_

She didn't know the answer. Nobody did.

But she was now sick of hiding. Sick of isolation. She wanted to spread her wings out like a real bird and feel free.

"My name is Falco D. Mihawk," she quietly whispered. "And I am on a mission to kill my father, and bring justice to my late mother."

Ace was surprised, although, not by much. He knew her golden eyes were connected to someone, but he couldn't have guessed that it was Dracule Mihawk, even if it explained her swords. The two, other than their eye colours, barely resembled each other. Mihawk was tall, pale, had black hair while Falco was of average height, slightly tanned (it wasn't a sickly white anymore, he realized), and had long, wavy brunette hair. Mihawk's eyes were small and slitted, like a hawk, while hers were large and sparkly.

"And?" He went, leaning back to look at the stars. "Why are you running from the Marines?"

She didn't say anything for a minute, as if to think out her answer. Every word out of her mouth seemed to be chosen with utmost caution. After contemplating about it for a few more moments, she said: "Mihawk is part of the Marines—he's a Shichibukai, isn't he? I'm trying to kill their ally."

"I'd kill my father if he was around," Ace suddenly said, more so to himself than to the girl. She looked at him wonder and was going to ask him why, but he shook his head quickly as if he was clearing his mind and turned his attention back to Falco.

"You don't think… it's weird I want to kill my biological father?" She whispered, looking at him directly with her eyes. They were powerful—Ace noticed. Intimidating, observational, and judging.

He chuckled and fully laid down on the sand, using his hands as a pillow. "In the end, we're all children of the sea." He glanced at Falco, who was still staring into the fire sadly, knees pressed against her chest.

"I've been living on that island for the past fourteen years," she admitted. "I've never had a friend and I kept myself isolated so no one could find me before I challenged Mihawk. But as time passed, I grew more fearful—what if I couldn't defeat him? What if someone found me before I found him? And if it wasn't for you today… that would've been the case for me."

Falco turned her head to look at him, to _really _observe him. Freckles splashed across his cheeks and his shaggy hair was adorned by a bright, orange hat. Onyx eyes stared at her seriously.

"You won't know until you try," he said, sitting upright. "If it's what you want, go for it."

The girl was at a lost for words, feeling stunned. In a few minutes, he had managed to make her tell him about her ambitions, and gave her the courage she lacked for her dream.

The tranquility in their expressions stopped when Falco winced, clutching her arm painfully. It had started throbbing once more—the repression of her Devil Fruit power mixed with the bleeding made it almost unbearable. She'd slept through yesterday, so it meant that two days had passed since the wound was treated.

"Does it hurt?" he worriedly asked, standing up, He clutched his hair in agony. "What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?! Florence never gave me tips on first aid!"

Suddenly, his entire face lit up as he looked behind Falco. Curious, she turned her head around to see what he was so happy about, when her breath hitched in her throat.

It was too dark to see the jolly roger, but the vessel itself made it clear. Four ships, the biggest one in the centre, resembled a huge, white whale. Its sails stood upright on the ship tall and sturdy. It was coming towards the island at a quick pace, scaling the waves as if it completely resisted the tides.

"We have to go," he suddenly said, dumping sand on the fire and grabbing his bag and her swords. He slugged Falco over his shoulder with one arm like she was light baggage. She squealed slightly, but was too weak to protest.

When the boat got as close as it could to the shore, they got on his yellow raft and slowly came to a stop in front of the ship. He leaped up and landed on the deck without stumbling, even with all the items he was carrying.

The girl slid off of his shoulder and muttered a thanks, but widened her eyes at the crowd in front of them. The crew had formed a circle around Ace and Falco, greeting their Commander in joy and inspecting the girl curiously. Never before had she felt so many eyes concentrating on her.

"Florence!" Ace cried. "Florence! Jenna! Anyone! We need medical assistance!"

A man with facial features that resembled a pineapple emerged from the crowd. He most certainly did _not _seem like a Florence or a Jenna, or someone useful enough to give medical help to her injured shoulder. Pineapple Man peered closer to her and raised a thin eyebrow skeptically, examining her sorry state.

"What's this?" He asked, peering closer. "A stowaway?"

"A civilian. She was injured and was running from the Marines, so I gave her a hand."

"And you brought her to our ship?"

Ace shrugged. "Why not? She doesn't seem like an enemy."

His eyes directed its attention over to Ace's bandage which was now soaking with blood. At that moment, a sharp pain went through her arm once more as she clutched it painfully, teeth gritting to desperately hold her cry of agony.

"Excuse me! Whoops! Sorry, I'll check that later," she heard. A pretty, blonde nurse with a pink uniform also emerged from the crowd, holding a first-aid kit with a bright expression on her small face. _She _looked more like a Florence or Jenna and seemed to be capable of helping the bullet wound.

"I heard there was an injury?" She went, before eyeing Falco with a serious face. "Oh dear... it looks a lot more severe than what I thought it was. Come, come! There's no time to waste. Ace, bring her to the first-aid room for me, will you please?"

Saying nothing more, he gently pushed Falco's back and led her down to the lower decks, where the nurse opened the door to what looked like an operation table.

"We're going to get this bullet out," she said, giving Falco a kind smile. "But no need to worry! I do this almost every day."

"We'll be here too," Ace said, and looked at the Pineapple Man. "_Right_, Marco?"

Marco, she found out, nodded. "You can trust Florence, she's our best doctor here. We can slowly talk about everything else afterwards, so take it easy-yoi."

The energy was slowly drained out of her, not from the anaesthetics, but from the day itself.

_My safe, warm bubble has finally popped now, huh?_

The last thing that she saw was Florence's platinum-blonde hair, and Ace's reassuring smile.

_Damn you and your antics, fate._

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><p><strong>My apologies for the slow pacing and Falco's anti-social attitude. I just wanted you guys to have a gist of her past and her appearance, so there's really nothing special about this chapter. It'll get a <em>lot <em>more interesting soon though, I promise!**

**Like always, please review!**

**~Ina :***


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